Our vision, mission, values and aims

Brake's vision is a world where there are zero road deaths and injuries, and people can get around in ways that are safe, sustainable, healthy and fair. Our mission is to:

affect attitudes, policy and investment in furtherance of our vision; and

relieve the suffering of people bereaved or seriously injured in road crashes.

What we mean by safe, sustainable, healthy and fair

Safe: Travel doesn’t pose a threat to life nor a threat of serious injury.

Sustainable: Travel does not contribute to pollution and global warming.

Healthy: People can engage in active travel, getting around in ways that contribute to health and wellbeing, and without breathing in damaging air pollution from traffic.

Fair: Travel is fair for all. All children and adults have the freedom to move around their communities and get to places they want to be, without fear, threat, risk to health, noise or discomfort, nor unreasonable cost.

The reality is far from this.

Unsafe: Across the globe, 1.2 million people killed annually in road crashes and the figure is expected to rise to 1.8 million by 2030. In the UK, five people die and about 60 more are seriously injured every day.

Unsustainable: Motorised road transport contributes about a quarter to a third of the richest nations’ CO2 emissions, and emissions are rising in the poorest and middle-income nations.

Unhealthy: A leading cause of obesity in developed nations is sedentary lifestyles, and about 300,000 people die annually globally from respiratory conditions directly attributable to traffic pollution.

Unfair: Many people are inhibited from moving around their communities freely. This particularly affects the poorest people, prevented from travelling to work places and amenities, particularly through lack of public transport and safe routes for people on foot and bicycles.

Our values

LIFE: We put humanitarian concerns and concerns for the planet above all else in our work.

EXCELLENCE: We seek out and share research and good practice to inform efforts by us and others.

AMBITION: We work hard, striving for ambitious change in light of the gravity of the crises.

TEAM: We work for change through collective effort, through action by governments particularly, but also organisations, communities and individuals. We value our staff and volunteers.

Our strategic aims (2015-2019)

Build awareness and engagement with the cause and Brake: Increase awareness of, and our collective responsibility for, road safety, including preventing the devastation of road crashes and the environmental and health damage caused by motorised road transport, as an important social issue and charitable cause. Defend the human right to move around in ways that are safe, sustainable, healthy and enjoyable and for road crash victims to be provided with effective support. Strengthen and raise the profile of the Brake brand and achieve increased engagement with the charity.

Achieve policy changes and increases in investment: Influence national, local, international and organisational policies and investment to achieve measures to improve road safety (especially to protect the vulnerable) and road crash victim support, and enable sustainable, healthy and enjoyable travel, in line with evidence on what is most likely to be effective and the importance of safe systems.

Enable people to take action: Enable people to take positive steps in support of safe, sustainable, healthy and fair road use in their communities, organisations, nations and daily lives. Provide inspiration and information to help people take these steps, and encourage and support their efforts.

Support road crash victims: Help road crash victims through high-quality, specialist victim support services. Encourage and support professionals working with these victims.

Raise more funds and enable the charity to achieve more: Increase the charity’s income and our charitable work.

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Professionals

Every 30 seconds someone, somewhere in the world is killed in a road crash. Brake works to stop road deaths and injuries by campaigning for safer roads; supports people bereaved or injured in road crashes; and raises public awareness for sustainable transport. Registered charity No. 1093244